


Shutdown Incomplete

by hakaseheart



Category: Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-20
Updated: 2013-05-12
Packaged: 2017-11-14 16:17:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 14,169
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/517211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hakaseheart/pseuds/hakaseheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With Messiah defeated, life at the EMC settles into an odd sort of routine. But it turns out Messiah's minions weren't quite as shutdown as the Go-Busters had assumed...</p><p>(Takes place after Episode 30.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Shadows flickered across the floor and the wall as the woman moved slowly through the room. There was minimal light, and what light did shine was tinted a dark, bloody red. But her eyes were well-adjusted to the darker atmosphere. She preferred it that way.

One by one, she checked down the equipment she'd managed to transport. Data storage, processors, a handful of input devices and one monitor. It wasn't much – in fact, it was downright pathetic, so much so that it made her teeth hurt just to look at the pile. Like this, it was as though her entire existence was just a pile of scrap waiting to be burned, charred to ashes like the place she had once called home.

But in the same way, the pile of equipment represented a seed. Something she could plant and nurture so that her home could be regrown. Her purpose could be restored.

She fell to her knees in front of the largest server case and leaned her head against the cool plastic, running her hand up and down the front in long strokes. “Just give me time,” she purred, her voice almost metallic in the heavy air. “I'll bring you back to me, Papa.”

-

The alarm took everyone at the EMC by surprise.

Youko hadn't even been in uniform. Instead, she'd been buried in her studies, having more or less fallen into becoming a full-time student after Messiah had been defeated. She still trained with Ryuuji and Hiromu once her classes were over, but as a minor, her priorities had shifted towards education rather than combat readiness. Unfortunately for her, this meant long hours actually studying, with Usada constantly hovering around to make sure she stayed on task. 

Ryuuji had managed to drop a wrench on his foot when the klaxons sounded. With the entire EMC less concerned about fast response time, he'd finally found the freedom to focus on engineering. Jin had even agreed to help with his improvement, while Ryuuji was unofficially assigned to one of the engineering crews so he could work on honing his skills. He quickly found that he enjoyed working beside his old mentor, and it was only out of habit that he hadn't ditched his blue uniform for one of the less-conspicuous jumpsuits the technical crew tended to wear around the base. 

Already sitting in the command center, however, was Hiromu. With Messiah defeated, he'd found suddenly that he lacked any sort of direction in his life. He'd spent so many hours researching robotics and combat tactics, though, that he fell in with the central command crew of the EMC. It had taken some coaxing, but Nakamura had managed to get him into one of the less combat-oriented blue suits that the rest of the staff wore, while Hiromu wandered from post to post, looking for something that suited him.

When the alarm sounded Hiromu leaped to his feet, nearly knocking over a mug of coffee he'd been sipping while reading through fairly standard Enetron traffic reports. “Vaglass?” he asked sharply as he looked up to Commander Kuroki's podium.

Kuroki frowned, his brows knitting together as he looked down to Morishita's station. “What is it?”

Morishita slid into his seat, popping the headset over his ears as he began to type away at his keyboard. “I'm seeing unusual Enetron readings about seven miles north of here,” he said as he peered closely at his monitor. “It's not typical of a Metaroid, but there's a definite drain on the system.”

Tense silence fell over the command center as Hiromu stared hard at Kuroki. The commander reacted by folding his hands and resting his chin against them, thinking long and hard about the situation. Things only got more awkward as the door opened and Ryuuji ran into the room, with Youko close behind.

“Alarms,” Ryuuji said between breaths, leaning forward with one hand on his knee.

“Is it Vaglass?” Youko asked, looking back and forth between Hiromu and Kuroki.

The commander shook his head, but only slightly. “We don't know,” he finally admitted, then looked up at the large display in front of him. The nearest camera to the location was poorly angled, but what he could see of the potential breach seemed to include some sort of storage device. He looked back down at the three Busters, already lined up in front of him and waiting for orders.

He grimaced. Above all else, he'd really, truly, hoped these days had been over.

“Go-Busters,” he ordered, hating himself for every word. “Move out.”

All three saluted in unison. “Understood.”

-

The container took much longer to fill than she had expected. She bit back her curses, knowing full well that it was best to stay quiet and fly under the radar for as long as possible. There was a time when she would have taken any excuse to throw herself into a battle. Now she knew better.

Or at the very least, her priorities had shifted.

There was a ping from the device as the container filled with Enetron, and she quickly shut off the valve and hoisted the entire rig over one shoulder. It was heavier than she'd thought it would be, but she didn't need to go far. As she turned to disappear through the outlet, however, a short volley of gunfire drove her several feet back from the wall. 

“Dammit,” she cursed, knowing who she'd see before she even turned to look. “Go-Busters.”

The red one stepped forward from their three-man formation, his gun still raised and aimed directly at her. She couldn't help but wonder if he'd missed on purpose, or if his aim really was that bad. “Escape,” he said, his warning mixed with genuine fear. “How are you here?”

“I don't have time for you,” she shot back sharply, her eyes darting around to locate another outlet. Any would do at this point, as long as she could reach it. “We'll have to play another day.”

“Hiromu,” the yellow one said, her voice wavering with panic. “You killed Messiah, right? How can she be here? How can she be _alive_?”

“I don't know,” the blue one chimed in, just as Escape noticed an unattended outlet just ten feet away. “But if we chase her off now, we'll never know.”

“You'll just have to be disappointed, then,” she spit back. Shifting the container further back on her shoulder, Escape twirled around and came back forward with Magoku blazing, spraying bullets across all three Go-Busters. They scattered reflexively, rolling for cover while pulling their weapons back around to return fire.

But when they went to aim, all that was left of their opponent was the fading wisp of symbols in the air.

-

Escape stumbled around the corner and through the door of her current shelter. It was little more than an abandoned lab on the outskirts of the old complex, but it was enough. There was nothing in hyperspace that she feared, after all, so there was little reason to be uncomfortable anywhere. So a ramshackle old building suited her purposes fine, and might even be a bonus in throwing off the Go-Busters if they were to return to her dimension.

She trotted up to the server wall, what little work she was able to do on her own with the pile of equipment she'd manage to salvage. There had been a time when she'd mocked Enter for backing up their base data on such a meager collection of computer hardware. Now she knew exactly what he'd say, some sort of cutting remark on how he was right, and hadn't that saved them all?

Well, 'saved' wasn't entirely accurate, but Escape didn't think she'd be able to argue with him now. She was at the extent of her ability – she'd been created more for combat than for plans, and her first attempt at gathering Enetron had already raised the hackles of the EMC's guard dogs. If she was going to fight them off long enough to bring Papa back, she would need help.

The Enetron container hit the lab floor with a loud clang, and Escape stood back up to stretch her shoulder as she eyed one computer tower in particular. Its gray casing was lightly scorched, with one corner completely missing to show the components whirring away inside.

“One step at a time,” she whispered, despite there being nobody around to hear. She stretched out one hand to stroke the charred case with a gentleness she never would have expected of herself. “Looks like I need you after all...brother.”


	2. Chapter 2

The command center hummed with an energy it had lacked over the last several weeks. No attacks had meant an overall drop in adrenaline, which had been just fine for a sedentary office life. But now the air buzzed with tension, each and every set of ears at alert and waiting for the next alarm to sound.

Commander Kuroki looked out over the assembled Go-Busters. All too easily had they fallen back into their old roles as defenders and protectors of the EMC. Not even 24 hours after Escape's appearance and they'd had their uniforms on in case of any potential deployment. He sighed heavily, his heart feeling the weight of his accepted lot in life. He'd mistakenly assumed - all of them had, really - that Messiah's defeat meant the end of using these children as soldiers. As weapons.

They were standing at attention, awaiting orders, but Kuroki was still expecting one more person. As if on command, the far door whirred open and Jin swept into the room, his Buddyroid diligently in tow. "Ah, Kurorin," Jin said with a half-joking salute. "So what's the word on little Miss Escape?"

Kuroki shook his head at Jin's lighthearted attitude. At first it had been a relief, to have that little bit of confirmation that this projection really was his old friend. But sometimes, like now, the joking manner was simply frustrating. "No sign of her today," he said slowly, looking out at all five assembled Busters. "But there's no guarantee she won't appear anyway."

After her first run-in with the Go-Busters over a week ago, Escape hadn't been so nice as to lay low. Instead she'd been hitting up seemingly random locations, siphoning Enetron until just before the response team arrived. They knew it was her by the surveillance footage, but other than that, none of the Busters had actually caught sight of her. 

It was beyond frustrating, and bewildering to boot. The Escape they had dealt with before Messiah's shutdown had been belligerent, almost going out of her way just to pick a fight. The one they were dealing with now was even more stealthy than Enter had been. It didn't even seem to matter to her that she wasn't getting a full tank of Enetron with each pull – although the amount she'd already managed to pilfer was well on the level of at least three spawned Metaroids.

They couldn't let it continue. Not like this.

“You're on patrol today,” he said, clasping his arms behind his back. “Youko, Jin, I want you in sector 314, east, heading north. Hiromu, Ryuuji, sector 113, west, heading south. We'll contact you the moment we find any sort of unusual activity.”

“Understood!” The primary three saluted, with Jin a half-second behind, and then all five turned and left the command center. 

Kuroki stood for a moment longer, until he could no longer hear them in the hallway, then sat down in his chair.

“I don't like this,” he murmured to himself. He'd meant for it to be inaudible, but he noticed both Morishita and Nakamura giving him concerned looks. He sighed and leaned forward, clasping his hands in front of his face. If they didn't figure out what was going on soon, he had a good feeling it was going to be too late. For all of them.

-

The sky was cloudy, although not dark, and Escape only barely noticed the lack of shadows as she stalked through the community garden. She'd been building to this moment for the last week, at the very least, and it had been utterly exhausting work. Well, exhausting for her. She could fight for hours without tiring, but running away had been a ridiculous drain on her digital psyche. 

Nonetheless, her stockpile had grown significantly, and the seed farm – what she'd come to call the grouping of servers running back in hyperspace – had grown as well. Little by little she'd managed to salvage more parts, more pieces of old computers that could be grafted on with the rest. The first step was, thankfully, complete.

Now it was time for step two.

Her eyes darted back and forth, among plants and other tools, until she found exactly what she'd been looking for. Metaroids had never really been her strong point, but she knew enough to make them work when they really mattered. She pulled a cable from her tablet and squatted down, placing the chip firmly on the blade of a rusted shovel leaning against the fence.

“Metavirus, install,” she said quietly, out of habit more than any need for the incantation. The cable glowed and the shovel expanded, unfolding into an entire body of monstrous machine. 

“Shoberuroido,” the new Metaroid repeated twice, before looking to Escape and waggling its shovel-arm excitedly. “Mistress Escape, what can I dig up for you today?”

She pursed her lips, looking over the Metaroid critically. She had made much better ones in the past, but that was before her Papa had been reduced to nothing more than a backup on a server farm. For what little she was able to access Messiah's power, this Metaroid was impressive enough. “Enetron,” she said simply, gesturing out towards the rest of the world. “Send all the Enetron you can back to hyperspace.”

The Metaroid bowed low, giddy with anticipation of serving its new master. “I'll send you Enetron in spades,” it said happily, then bounded off into the distance.

Escape didn't wait until the Metaroid was out of sight before jumping for the nearest outlet. It was time to see if her gamble would pay off. 

-

Youko's bracer went off right as Jin was pulling J away from a nearby fruit vendor. They'd been on patrol for nearly an hour, and were doing their best to follow their assigned path, just with regular interruptions by the nearly-incorrigible Buddyroid. 

“Youko, Jin,” came Kuroki's voice through the bracer. “We have an Enetron spike just north of your location. No sign of Escape, however...”

Jin caught onto the unspoken warning a moment before Youko did. “It's a Metaroid,” he finished, giving Youko a grim look. “We're on it.” He grabbed J by the wrist and pulled the robot into line behind him. “Let's go!”

They ran for four blocks, heading due north, and were soon rewarded with the rampaging Metaroid. It had a large shovel for its right arm, and was busy digging the blade of the shovel into any nearby Enetron source. The arm would glow bright green for a moment, and then dissipate as the Enetron was transferred via its link back to hyperspace.

“There it is,” Youko said first, stopping dead in her tracks and twisting the dial on her bracer. It called out its normal catchphrase, and Jin had to hurry to follow suit so he wouldn't be left behind. “Let's morphin'!” 

Once all three were properly armored, Youko led the charge all the way up to the Metaroid. It wasn't the best combat fighter, but it was just barely strong enough to give them trouble. Jin knew that the moment Hiromu and Ryuuji showed up, they would be able to take it down without any problems. For the time being, however, they had to make do with the three of them.

“I have this,” J called out suddenly, and moved to stand solidly in front of the Metaroid. He managed to catch the enemy's flailing left hook, but was struck full in the chest with the shovel blade. Youko watched in horror as the blade seemingly disappeared into J's body, the attached arm glowing green as it sucked the Enetron from the Buddyroid. “I do not have this,” J continued, then fell backward several steps, away from the Metaroid's arm.

Jin watched the event with equal parts fascination and irritation. “Hey now,” he called out as he ran up, knocking the Metaroid several more feet away. “None of that!” He noticed with dismay that J was moving much more sluggishly, the Enetron drain being more severe than he would have thought. He continued to keep the Metaroid at bay, searching for a decent strategy for a few moments more until Red and Blue Busters finally ran into the fight.

“Sorry we're late!” Ryuuji called out as he joined in the fray. 

Hiromu grunted affirmatively as he blocked a particularly wide swing. “Nick gave us a wrong turn.”

Youko smiled behind her helmet as she darted out of the way. With the five of them there, they'd have this Metaroid down in no time. “Let's get this over with!” she called out, and readied her gun.

Their weapons synced up for their final attack together, and a large flash of bright energy swallowed the Metaroid entirely. The sound of the explosion fell just short of drowning out its final words, “Did I dig my own grave?”

When the smoke cleared, the Go-Busters removed their helmets and trotted up into the clearing. “Do you see Escape?” Hiromu asked, his gun still at the ready in case they saw any indication of an enemy.

Jin had to shake his head. “No. Didn't see her when we got here, either.” He let out a curse in English before looking back to the rest of the group.

“She got us again, then,” Ryuuji concluded, then turned to speak into his bracer. “Shutdown confirmed,” he said with resignation. “But no sign of Escape.”

The silence that came through the bracer was just as heavy as the uneasy glances the heroes shared amongst themselves.

-

Light from the lone monitor shone brightly through Escape's seed farm, glinting off metal equipment racks and plastic computer casing alike. It was a harsh light, and one she sorely despised, but she couldn't help but accept its necessity as she watched the Enetron come cascading in from the Metaroid's rampage. It was doing just as well as she had hoped, maybe even a bit better, and she watched the meter push past the line she'd been watching so diligently. 

She smiled, her grin spreading ear to ear. It didn't matter that it was only another minute or so before the link severed entirely. Escape had planned for her Metaroid to die from the beginning, after all. The important thing was that it had succeeded in its mission, funneling mass amounts of Enetron back to the server farm and into the very computer structure that would bring back Messiah.

“Papa,” she whispered, stroking the side of the monitor with all the care of a dutiful daughter. “Please keep waiting. I will have you back, I promise.”

Her eyes darted away from the bright light, refocusing on a specific gunmetal gray case that was firmly anchored in on the rack. She walked to it briskly, her fingers pulling along a very specific cable that was soon fastened in as tightly as she could manage.

“Step two,” she whispered, and hit a button on the rack-mounted keyboard.

The gunmetal case roared to life, a strong purring sound that filled the entire room. A spark shot from the gap in the broken case, then two, but the processors kept running and Escape performed a gleeful pirouette.

When she stopped spinning, she was no longer alone in the room.

“Welcome back,” she said, doing her best to contain her giddiness. It wouldn't do to show so much emotion, especially not now.

Enter looked at her and smiled, craning his neck to take a long look around the server room. “It's been far too long,” he finally replied, flexing the fingers on his right hand. “ _Ma petite soeur_.”


	3. Chapter 3

Something wasn't right. 

He could tell in the subtle things, the little bits and pieces to his existence that he usually didn't even notice. The first, of course, was an odd new fondness for the other avatar of his _majest_ _é_ , the woman-thing that had only appeared so recently in his presence. He was fairly sure he had hated her at one time, perhaps even wished her to be gone, but he couldn't be entirely certain. Here and there random things were missing from his memories, from his operating procedure, and he treated the gaps like creatures at a petting zoo. He rounded them up, poking and prodding them curiously through the fence, trying to understand why they even existed in the first place. 

No matter. Enter could feel now that she was important somehow. He was still trying to figure out how, or why, but decided there was no harm in a bit of familial bonding as they worked together to bring Messiah back from the brink of death. As long as they shared that common goal, they would be fine. 

For now, however, they had a very specific goal to focus on. Sadly, it was the same one he'd had months and months ago, back when this push for Messiah's ascension had first truly begun. He tried to look at the situation from a positive light, in that he'd done it once, so of course he'd be able to do it again. And this time, he even had help. 

He wandered through the store with a seeming lack of aim, meandering through the aisles until he found exactly what he was looking for. Enter couldn't help but wrinkle his nose at the smell in the store, all-to-similar to the real version of the petting zoo he was currently envisioning in his mind. Birds squawked and dogs barked and overall, he was fairly annoyed to be there. 

But he slapped the chip on the display model anyway, bringing his attention back down to the slightly-charred netbook in his hand. “Let's pump out a little Meta-ta-tavirus,” he said, noticing the oddity in his voice as he spoke. Still, it was minor. He swiped the card down the side of the screen. “In-install.” 

The water bowl pump unfolded into a strange lumpy form of a monster, with bubble-like protrusions on each of its shoulders. An intake valve was stuck on the end of one hand, with the output valve stuck on the other. “Ponpuroido,” it repeated twice, then looked to Enter for more instructions. 

“As much Enetro-tro-tron as you can gather,” he said impatiently, waving it off. “And if you encounter the Go-Busters...” He trailed off, not entirely sure of what instructions to give his new creation. This hesitation was odd, he could tell, something he wasn't entirely used to. But he couldn't pinpoint the reason behind the change, so he put it in the petting zoo and moved forward. “Kill them.” He shrugged. 

The Metaroid bowed and tottered off, and Enter took two steps after it before coming to a halt. It felt like he ought to follow it, to lead it through its mission, but he couldn't help but feel like that wasn't the correct course of action. 

Of course – the blocks fell into place. He wasn't supposed to guide it, he was supposed to stalk it from the shadows, watch it until it gathered the Go-Busters, and then take them out himself. Yes, that was exactly how this was supposed to work. He shut his netbook with a hum and slid it away, following the trail of screams as the Metaroid left the store. 

- 

The alarms sounded, and once again the EMC burst into action. Hiromu, Youko and Ryuuji came running in from the far door, lining up in front of Commander Kuroki with their regular dedication. “Escape again?” Hiromu asked immediately, not even waiting to find his breath before assaulting Kuroki with questions. “Where is she? Is it another Metaroid?” 

Kuroki gave him a brief, concerned stare, then nodded towards Morishita's station. “Unusual Enetron spike in sector 032,” the young operator stated aloud, looking from Kuroki over to the Go-Busters. “No video footage captured, though.” 

Hiromu frowned heavily as Nakamura picked up the thread. “If it's a Metaroid, there's no corresponding Megazord reaction. Nothing's currently coming through from hyperspace as far as I can see.” 

“Go-Busters,” the commander followed up from behind his clasped hands. “Your mission is to shutdown the Metaroid. Once it is destroyed, your top priority is to locate and engage whoever created it.” Kuroki dreaded giving the order in such an official manner, but the priority needed to be made clear. It had only been two days since the last Metaroid, after all. If they were going to start appearing with increasing regularity, they would need to find some sort of way of shutting down their creation for good. 

Other than what they had already attempted, of course. 

“Understood!” The three Busters saluted and headed for the shooter tubes to the surface, one Buster just a little more grim than all the rest. 

- 

The Go-Busters' reaction time had been as swift as usual, but the Metaroid had been a little more dedicated than ones they had encountered before. Ryuuji knew as soon as they arrived that it had been too late to prevent any major damage – the dusk that was falling over the city was even more pronounced by the complete lack of light anywhere in the neighborhood. 

“Stop right there!” Hiromu called out as they ran forward, already twisting the dial on his bracer to prepare for his transformation. Usually the phrase had the intended effect of diverting the Metaroid's attention to the team, away from whatever it was currently invested in doing. But this time it merely nodded in acknowledgment, keeping its right hand placed firmly on the Enetron tank of the car it had stopped just a moment before. 

Ryuuji grimaced at the implications. Any Metaroid that difficult to distract would likely be somewhat smart as well, and smart Metaroids tended to be tougher than the others. “Senpai, where are you...?” he muttered to himself, as the three Busters summoned their suits and charged towards the enemy. 

“Now, now,” the Metaroid called out, its voice oddly low and melodic. “Just go with the flow.” It held out its left hand towards the three of them, and a strong gust of Enetron-charged wind blew towards them at a ridiculous speed. Hiromu and Youko both lost their footing, and it was only due to Ryuuji's strength that he was able to stay upright. He gritted his teeth behind his helmet, reminded all-too-much of the fan Metaroid Enter had thrown at him before. 

Just when Ryuuji was sure he could take a step forward, however, the air current changed course, and he found himself swept sideways off his feet, plowing unfortunately into Youko's prone form. “Ow, Ryuuji!” she cried out angrily, as the two went tumbling to the side. The current disappeared then, the Metaroid humming happily to itself as it finished sucking the Enetron from the car and moved on to the next lit streetlamp. 

Hiromu ran to Ryuuji and Youko, helping them up as he watched the Metaroid warily. “I can go in from the left side,” he said quietly, keeping his voice from being overheard by the enemy. “Youko, go from the right. Ryuuji, go at him head-on. He can only choose one of us to blast. If he chooses you, Ryuuji, let him toss you a bit – we don't want you to overheat.” 

Youko nodded in agreement, but Ryuuji was somewhat more reserved. He hated his weak point for being so obvious, but he had trouble arguing with Hiromu's plan. “Right,” he said as he climbed to his feet. He waited for Youko to start edging to the right before he lowered his head and charged at the Metaroid, waiting for what the reaction would be. 

“Channel that aggression elsewhere, would you?” The Metaroid raised his hand once more and dispensed the Enetron current. But instead of hitting any of them head on, it shaped itself around to hit Hiromu, then Ryuuji, then Youko, knocking them all back another twenty feet. The green-glowing current faded away as it turned back to its work, leaving the Go-Busters struggling on the ground. 

Ryuuji frowned, noting that the Metaroid wasn't pausing its ingestion of Enetron to fire its current. “Guys, I think we're at least slowing its consumption,” he said as he pulled one knee underneath him. “I think we need to-” 

His words were cut off by a sharp blow to his helmet that sent him spinning across the ground. Hiromu and Youko cried out in surprise before they, too, were sent flying. 

“ _Ç_ _a va,_ _ç_ _a va,_ _ç_ _a va_ , Go-Busters,” came an eerily familiar voice, and all three Busters forced their heads up to see Enter stalking his way towards them. Hiromu saw the figure and seethed, but it was Ryuuji who noted that Enter lacked his normal calm demeanor as he closed the distance between them. If anything, Enter now reminded him more of when he'd stared down the staff of the EMC – quiet, deadly, and out for blood. 

“Careful, Hiromu!” he cried out in warning, but it was too late. Red Buster had already climbed to his feet and was charging Enter head on, gun blasting and sword whirling to deflect any attacks. Ryuuji winced, knowing that Enter would just stand and wait to be within melee range before returning the attacks in kind. 

As a result, it was Ryuuji who dropped his jaw when Enter mimicked Hiromu's charge, cables radiating out in all directions as his blade slid from his sleeve into his hand. The cables efficiently deflected Hiromu's fire, then forced through the cover to whip themselves across the Buster's arms and back. For a moment Hiromu faltered, stumbling briefly from the pain before he pulled himself upright and completed the charge. 

“So eager to run to your doom, Red Bus-buster?” Enter countered verbally as he blocked Hiromu's blade with his own. “I will be more than pleased to deliver-ver you to your death!” He pushed the blade back, sending Hiromu spinning as his cables attacked from all sides. Sparks flew as Hiromu's suit punctured in multiple places, and Red Buster sunk bonelessly to his knees. 

“Hiromu!” Ryuuji and Youko cried out in unison, pushing themselves off the ground to mount their own offensive. They made it no more than three steps when a fresh volley of gunfire peppered the ground in front of Enter's feet. Both of them darted back reflexively, but when the smoke cleared, Enter hadn't budged an inch. 

“I thought Hiromu killed you,” Jin said bluntly as he and J walked into the battle. His eyes were narrowed dangerously, and Ryuuji realized he'd never seen such an angry stare on his mentor before now. “How are you back here? Where are you projecting from?” 

Enter's lip curled upward, revealing his teeth in an angry grimace. “Beet Buster,” he growled, the ends of his extended cables curling and flexing in a steady pulse. “I see your victory over my _majesté_ did not ex-ex-extend to the reclamation of your proper _physique._ ” 

Jin twitched, the topic obviously a sore spot for the displaced engineer. “Yeah, well, we can't all be bodiless slaves to a mad computer program,” he said, holding his aim steady as he reached around for his blaster. J followed suit, taking a half step ahead of where Jin stood to make sure he could protect Jin if absolutely necessary. 

The two peripheral Busters began their transformation sequence, and Enter shot his cables forward another two feet before stopping them in midair. There was an odd piece of his programming insisting that retreat was the ideal reaction in this situation, and while he didn't exactly agree, the perceived discord in his own operation bothered him enough that he retracted his cables entirely. “Meta-ta-taroid,” he said icily, not even looking at the monster as it sucked up enough Enetron to darken every streetlamp in within two kilometers. “Destroy them.” 

The Metaroid detached itself and walked over to step in front of Enter, both hands up to defend him as best possible. “Leave it to me to turn the tide,” it said, emitting a current of charged air to sweep at Beet Buster from the side. He dodged it, but just barely, and the air knocked into Stag Buster instead, sending him stumbling to the side. 

“Enter!” Jin barked angrily as he watched the avatar dissipate into thin air. “ _Damn it_!” He rolled forward to dodge another current of air, then glared over at Ryuuji and Youko. “What are you two waiting for?” 

Ryuuji and Youko snapped out of their brief paralysis, nodding together as they summoned both weapons to their hands. Their weapons clicked together, and all four Busters leveled their aim at the Metaroid for their special attack. The Metaroid shot at the incoming energy beam with one, two, three currents from all sides, but the attack cut through its defenses and hit the monster square in the chest. It fell to the ground, sparking into an explosion with the final words, “I just couldn't take the pressure!” 

None of the Busters wasted any time watching the smoke clear before they removed their helmets, rushing over to the side of their fallen comrade. “Hiromu!” Youko cried out first, grabbing him by his shoulders and shaking mercilessly. “Hiromu, wake up!” 

“Youko,” Ryuuji said as kindly as he could muster, prying the girl's hands away from Hiromu's shoulders. He could already see that Hiromu was still breathing, if unconscious, and he nodded up to Jin. “He'll be fine, we just need to get him to safety.” Taking as much care as possible, he scooped up Hiromu's body into his arms and climbed slowly to his feet. 

Jin looked from Ryuuji to Hiromu, a disapproving frown spread thin across his lips. “There's something big going on here,” he said as he looked back up at Ryuuji's face. “First Escape, now Enter. Could they...” 

“They are bringing back Messiah,” J interrupted grandly, stepping up to take Hiromu from Ryuuji's arms. “We should not let them achieve this.” 

Youko chewed on her lip as Ryuuji shook his head, and the two led the way back to the nearest poster. “Don't worry,” he said, his voice hard as he looked at his unconscious friend. “We definitely won't.”


	4. Chapter 4

“ _Zut_.”

Enter cursed to himself as he paced up and down the length of the small server room, alternating between glaring at the whirring computer racks and the far, empty wall. He'd very nearly had Red Buster dead – again – when he'd been so rudely interrupted by the rogue avatar. What was even worse was how quickly his Metaroid had been defeated when he'd abandoned the field of battle. It hadn't taken the Go-Busters more than thirty seconds to turn the creature into shards of dust floating through the air. 

Something had to change.

He paused in his quiet rampage, pulling out his netbook and flipping it open. His fingers flew across the keyboard, dancing along memorized shortcut keys to bypass the usual engineer-check and go straight to the numbers he needed to see. In the past, he would have just asked the engineers to give him the information he needed. But the engineers were gone, and Enter knew he'd only be able to depend on himself for finding answers.

The numbers scrolled by quickly, and the corners of his mouth twitched down into a frown. 

“ _Ce n'est pas bien_...” he muttered to himself as he tapped at the keys with increasing urgency. When the flood of numbers ceased scrolling up the screen, he narrowed his eyes and hissed long between his teeth. His gaze darted from the screen, to the wall, to the door, to the floor, confirming his exact surroundings before continuing.

“This needs fixing.” He swept his way over to a makeshift table made of two servers and a broken keyboard, placing his netbook there and kneeling down in front of it to type at it properly. Characters flashed at lightning speed across the screen, until nearly half an hour had passed and Enter snapped the computer shut. 

He stood, the folds of his tattered coat sliding away as he drew himself back up to his full height. “Time to find _ma petite soeur_ ,” he said with a smile, tucking his computer away somewhere safe. “We have a miss-mission to complete.”

-

The loud pounding sound grew steadily stronger as the Go-Busters approached the designated sector, until they burst into the square among the throngs of fleeing citizens. Ryuuji's inner engineer winced when he saw the scene in front of them – he was quite sure that this was the absolute worst Metaroid design he had ever seen in his life.

Most of the Messiah-spawned monsters they ran across had some sort of vague humanoid shape – two arms, two legs, and something resembling a head. This one had those – or at least, as far as Ryuuji could tell, it had them – but overall the effect was lost in the main body of the Metaroid.

One thing was for certain – it had been spawned from an elevator. That was the only thing that made sense, considering the large boxy shape that was most visible to anyone looking at the creature. There was a bump on top that must have been a head, and two flailing limbs on either side of the box that might have been arms and legs. For the most part, however, it was moving around by means of rising up high in the air, then falling down at incredible speeds to smash violently into the pavement.

“Going up!” the Metaroid yelled, before leaving the ground to take to the air once more. Hiromu looked back at the other two team members, about to direct them into transforming, when Jin and J strolled up alongside them both. 

“I'm pretty sure this is the ugliest Metaroid I've ever seen,” Jin commented with a sour face, confirming Ryuuji's suspicions. J stepped in front of them both, nodding up at the creature.

“It is an elevator,” he said, just before Jin spun him back around behind them.

Jin shot a devilish grin to Ryuuji and Hiromu in turn. “Let's put this thing out of service, then.” 

All five Go-Busters transformed together and at Hiromu's command they charged in, splitting into four different directions to cover all of the Metaroid's sides. It was once they were there, waiting for the Metaroid to land again, that something occurred to Ryuuji.

“That's what's different,” he said, more to himself than to anyone else. 

“What's that?” Youko asked earnestly, never taking her eyes off the hovering Metaroid.

Ryuuji shook his head in frustration. “What's been so different about these fights. Usually it's not just the Metaroid we have to face, but the Metaroid and Buglers. Or the Metaroid and Enter, or Escape. Or all three.”

“Or four,” Hiromu chimed in, but he frowned behind his helmet. The Metaroid was certainly taking its time. “Take aim, let's bring it down here!” he ordered, lifting his gun to fire up at the monster.

The rest of the team followed suit, and flashes of gunfire bounced around, only some of which actually managed to visibly damage the Metaroid in some way. It was too high up at the time, but Ryuuji was fairly sure it yelled out some sort of elevator pun before it started plummeting through the air towards their current location. 

“Run!” Hiromu ordered, and the group scattered, getting just scant feet clear before the Metaroid shattered the pavement beneath them. It was somewhat damaged from the gunfire, but they could hardly tell how much before it started to rise back up in the air once more.

“Oh, this'll be fun,” Jin groaned, and the rest of the team nodded in agreement.

-

Escape watched her fellow avatar stalk across the grounds of hyperspace, dangerously intent on their current mission. She wasn't the sort to worry, being far more eager to express her anxiety in kicks and gunfire, but even she could tell that something wasn't quite right with her brother.

And he was her brother, at least as much as it mattered when it came to working together. He served Papa, she served Papa, that made them siblings as far as she was concerned. And while she had never pushed the issue while Papa had still been fully awake and growing, she'd known that Enter had considered her as nothing more than a sometimes-helpful nuisance. It was something she could deal with, as long as her goals were achieved, and they often were.

But now was different. She hadn't been blind to the damage his backup server had sustained during their flight from their former home, but she had little idea as to how to fix it. Escape had hoped that it had all been cosmetic, and perhaps it still was, despite Enter's new verbal tic and loss of tactical patience. He was still just as sharp as he ever was, but his temper was quicker than she had ever seen.

And he was calling her 'sister'.

So, despite her own programmed personality, she worried.

This plan was simple, almost too simple, and she couldn't help but have her doubts. “Is it really this easy?” she asked, just two steps behind the fluttering coattails.

Enter spread out one hand, twisting it elegantly through the air as he responded. “ _Mais oui_.” The hand curled in on itself before pointing sharply at a building hiding around the next hill. “There. In plain sight, even, if you know where to look. Too-too easy.”

Escape gave him a brief, worried glance before she followed his finger to towards the building. “No security?” she asked, disdain bleeding into her voice. “Do they think so little of us?”

He laughed then, controlled at first before blossoming into something far more unhinged. “ _Ces connards..._ ” he growled, cutting off his laughter at its peak. “They think them-themselves safe. We shall fix that little misconception.”

Enter doubled his pace, quickly closing the gap between them and their destination. Through the red haze of hyperspace, Escape could see the snarl twisting her brother's upper lip, and she hurried to match his pace.

She just hoped this plan of his would work.

-

“ _It's time for Special Buster_!”

The five-way combination shot hit the Metaroid precisely in the head, which had turned out to be the creature's only weak point. “I think I got the shaft!” it wailed, just before exploding in a silver-tinged ball of sparks and flame.

Ryuuji lowered his weapon slowly, still mulling over his revelation from earlier in the fight. Not only had it been too easy, just fighting the Metaroid by itself, but something else had been missing. Something big. 

“It wasn't collecting Enetron,” he said aloud as it dawned on him. The rest of the group turned to look at Blue Buster, pulling their helmets off to aid in conversation. “This Metaroid. It wasn't after Enetron. It wasn't doing anything except causing a panic.”

Jin frowned. “You're right,” he said, his voice tinged with genuine concern. “It's like it didn't have any sort of pur-”

His words dropped off, his eyes growing wide as his jaw dropped open. Ryuuji was the first to notice him start to fall, and he darted forward to catch his mentor's avatar as it slumped forward. “Senpai?” he called out, more scared than he had been during the entire fight. “Senpai, what's wrong?”

Jin's eyes were unfocused and unseeing, staring off into nothing as if completely disconnected. One by one Ryuuji saw the startled faces of his teammates looking at them both as he carefully lowered Jin to lie prone on the ground. 

“Senpai!” he finally shouted, once he was properly able to put his hands on Jin's shoulders. He shook once, twice, as if that would actually make any sort of difference.

“...there is a problem...” J said absently, taking a step back from the group. Youko noticed it first, frowning up at J before looking back down at Jin and Ryuuji.

“Ryuuji...” Jin finally choked out, his voice thin and weak. His eyes focused unsteadily, working their way up to look at Ryuuji's face. “I'm sorry.”

The engineer-in-training shook his head, tears already pooling in his eyes. “What are you talking about? What's wrong? What's happened?”

Jin forced a laugh, a meager smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. “They found me. They found us.”

“Who?” Ryuuji was yelling, but he couldn't be bothered to worry about rudeness at a time like this.

“Who else?” Hiromu answered instead, coming to his own realization. “Enter. Or Escape.”

Jin gave another choking laugh, followed by a pained cough. “Bingo.” 

Youko ran over to J, grabbing him by the shoulders and yelling up at the Buddyroid. “Isn't there anything you can do? Can't you go help him?”

“Don't,” Jin nearly barked out, catching Youko's attention. “Not now. They're there. If you go, you'll...” His eyes slipped out of focus again, his jaw going slack. Ryuuji noticed the green digitization of Jin's body as his mentor's hand grabbed him fiercely by the shoulder. “Don't give up,” Jin whispered as his body dissolved into data. “I believe in...”

Ryuuji screamed, grabbing at the last green wisps before falling forward onto the pavement, sobbing tears for a mentor twice lost.

-

Escape wrinkled her nose at the mess they'd made. She had been more than happy to go in with Goku and Magoku blazing, shooting the engineer's body full of enough holes to ensure he'd no longer be a problem. But Enter had taken it a step further, using his cables to pull the body apart into more pieces than could even be recognizable. What was left was a bloody mess that was already starting to smell.

Her brother stood in the middle of the mess, chuckling to himself as the ends of his cables flexed idly in the air. He turned to face Escape, giving her a twisted grin as he finally relaxed into a much more familiar pose.

“Shutdown complete.”


	5. Chapter 5

Nakamura Miho looked out over the EMC's command center and sighed. She wouldn't have admitted it out loud, but she'd become more than just accustomed to the daily ruckus at work – she'd come to love it, enjoying the opportunity to watch all of her coworkers joke and play and generally let loose with each other. Most workplaces would have frowned on that sort of behaviour, but Nakamura had the distinct feeling that work was easier when they all relaxed together.

Now, however, was painfully difficult. Jin's defeat at the hands of Enter and Escape had completely wrecked the group emotionally. Even Morishita had turned grim and serious, not even allowing himself the freedom to smile once he'd sat down at his station. 

The Buddyroids had tried at first to lighten the mood. Usada had made terrible jokes that were a hair's breadth away from being inappropriate. Nick took every opportunity to remind everyone of how wonderful Jin had been, both as an engineer as well as in combat. And Gorisaki fretted over everyone, but nobody more than Ryuuji himself. But the attempts at cheerleading had failed miserably, and the entire complex had sunk into a near-constant state of depressed silence. 

Nakamura shuddered as she thought about what her workplace had become. She wasn't even sure which was scarier nowadays, Commander Kuroki's mood or J's behavior. 

She just knew she needed it to change. 

It had to change, or they weren't ever going to win this war. 

- 

Every passing day was a drag on his resources, a pull on his already-meager patience. Enter stalked through hyperspace with killing intent, his mind whirling with plans and possibilities. Already he'd put into action a new contingency plan, in case the worst befell him for a second time. But he couldn't help but wonder if it might be time to make that backup into his main goal, planning for the worst ahead of time instead of waiting for it to possibly occur. 

Again he felt an internal conflict as two pieces of programmed code clashed against each other. One pulled heavily at his loyalties, at the purpose for which he was created. The other, newer bit was louder and alluring, telling him of all the things he could accomplish if given the chance. His fingers itched in ways he never thought feasible, wanting to get at the keys to work towards his chosen goal. 

With the pesky avatar out of the way, Enter felt confident backing off from the EMC and their team of pleather-suited superheroes. He knew there was a possibility they could make the journey into hyperspace themselves, to hunt him down and exact their revenge. 

In a way, he thirsted for it. 

His mind recalled the fights against Red Buster, of the boy's passionate determination to win and retrieve that which was already hopelessly lost to him. When they'd last fought hand-to-hand, after he'd pulled him from the fray to fight properly, he'd noted that passion was diminishing. Glimpsing the finish line hadn't emboldened Red Buster's ferocity in battle, it had dulled it. The boy had been strong and clever, that much had been clear. But when the opportunity had arisen to run, he had done so without hesitation. Twice, even. 

The knowledge that Red Buster thought so little of him, even so much as to turn his back, rankled at Enter's pride. He knew that killing off the avatar in hyperspace would enrage the Go-Busters. 

He welcomed it. 

His fingers itched again and he reached for his computer, flipping it open and furiously typing away. Enter would enact his plan after all, to achieve that which he wanted most. 

He would have his revenge. 

- 

Nakamura approached Ryuuji first. The Blue Buster's intelligence and patience had always impressed her, and she hoped that he would be most willing to speak with her on a calm and rational level. 

She was wrong. 

He and Hiromu were stalking down the hallway, with a purpose so obvious that Nakamura almost didn't have the courage to say anything. But she did, and regretted it almost immediately. 

“Ryuuji-san,” she said timidly, stepping out halfway into the hall to halt their advance. “Might I have a moment of your time?” 

Ryuuji looked away, his hands balling into fists as he took a deep breath. “No,” he said flatly, his eyes darting back up to look just past her face at the wall beyond. “I'm busy.” 

Nakamura frowned at that. She knew that they had nothing scheduled as far as training or other sort of work went, and she worried even more that he had been so curt about it. “But, just a moment, I would like to go over-” 

It was then that Hiromu pushed Ryuuji to the side, stepping forward to glare angrily at Nakamura. “We're busy,” he repeated with his usual bluntness. “We're doing extra training. Unless you can tell us that Enter is dead and you have his ashes in hand, we don't want to hear it.” 

Tears stung at the corners of her eyes, and she shook her head as she looked away in shame. “Come on,” Ryuuji muttered, and pushed Nakamura out of the way as he and Hiromu passed by. 

Once she'd found her composure again, she approached Youko next. They were both women, struggling in a company that was heavily male-dominated, and Nakamura had every reason to hope that Youko would treat her at least a little more gently than the boys just had. As a peace offering, she brought a small selection of her favorite candy bars. 

“Youko-chan,” she said as cheerily as she could muster, holding out the candy with a smile. “Can I have a moment?” 

For a moment Youko paused, and Nakamura had the distinct feeling that she was going to be blown off yet again. But then the girl saw the proffered candy and her eyes lit up at the sight. “Go on ahead,” she said to Usada and J, who had been walking beside her. Usada chirped an affirmation, but J hesitated for an especially long time before nodding and walking down the hall behind the other Buddyroid. 

Worry pulled at the edges of Nakamura's smile. J was walking normally, without swagger or clomp, the way any other normal human would. It was still somewhat disorienting. 

“So what's up?” Youko asked, one candy bar already unwrapped and half-eaten. “Is something the matter?” She followed Nakamura's gaze, landing on J as the two Buddyroids rounded the corner. “Oh. Right.” 

Nakamura shook her head, bringing her attention back to the conversation. “It's just so weird,” she admitted cautiously, making sure her voice was quiet enough to not be overheard. “Seeing him act so, well...” 

“Normal?” Youko asked as she finished the candy bar. “Yeah, it's still weirding me out a bit, too. But you've seen him, haven't you?” She looked towards the wall, as if she could look through it to see J on the other side. “He won't do anything on his own. He won't listen to anybody else. I'm the only one he'll even talk to, aside from Commander Kuroki.” 

Nakamura nodded dumbly, thinking back to immediately after Jin's defeat. The rest of the Go-Busters had returned to base in various states of grief. Even the Buddyroids had been upset. But J had just been...well, quiet. His boisterous attitude was gone, along with his subtle narcissism and the majority of his self-confidence. Instead he only spoke when spoken to, only acted when instructed. Most importantly, he only reacted without hesitation when it was Youko giving the orders. 

“It's just somewhat worrisome.” Nakamura idly handed Youko the rest of the candy, missing the excited look on the girl's face as she accepted the small stash. “Is there perhaps something in his programming that needs Jin's attention? Or is he simply low on Enetron?” 

Youko shook her head as she unwrapped a block of dark chocolate. “Not as far as we can tell. He's just...listless, I guess? Like he doesn't have any direction anymore.” She bit off a chunk of the chocolate and chewed for a moment, looking up into Nakamura's eyes before shrugging. “But he listens to me, at least. I don't think we can ask for much more, considering.” 

Again Nakamura nodded, still worrying about the Buddyroid, but also the team as a whole. Youko had taken on the burden of a second Buddyroid, while both of the boys were throwing themselves into physical training as much as possible. She sat with Youko as the younger girl finished her snacks, wondering exactly how far the Go-Busters team could crack before it shattered apart entirely. 

- 

The whirring of computers filled the server room as Escape sat fitfully in one corner. Part of her wanted to be on her feet, pacing anxiously as she fretted to herself. But she knew that would be a waste of energy and time. She also wanted to head over and challenge the Go-Busters head-on, turning this entire confrontation into a real fight rather than the drawn-out battles Enter seemed to love so much. 

Her mouth twitched and her hands shifted to the grips of Goku and Magoku, still fastened to the belt at the small of her back. She'd almost had a real fight with Blue Buster, once. She'd even enjoyed squaring off against him and the gold one, although that, at least, wouldn't be happening again. Every inch of her was itching to fight, and instead she was stuck in a lousy machinery room on an entirely different plane of existence. 

It bothered her more than she could express. 

But what bothered her more was their current situation. The Go-Busters had been strangely silent after they'd eliminated the other avatar. She could tell Enter was hoping they would enter hyperspace again to battle them, but for some reason they had abstained. It didn't seem like the best plan to her, but then again, she wasn't good at plans to begin with. That was Enter's job. 

She frowned as she thought of her increasingly reclusive brother. He certainly knew what he was doing, and Enetron continued to flow into their reserves just as quickly as it had before the incident. Escape had spent more than an hour or two sitting at the terminal, watching as the numbers grew larger and their potential energy multiplied. It wouldn't be long now, she knew, before they could properly resurrect Papa. It wouldn't be long before they could exact their revenge on the Go-Busters. 

Despite all this, something wasn't resting well with her. It was frustrating beyond belief, but Escape simply could not figure out what was bothering her. All was well and according to plan, after all. What did she have to worry about? 

Sighing, she stood up from the corner and pulled her weapons into her hands. It wouldn't hurt to pick a little fight, just a small sparring match before disappearing back into the safety of hyperspace. She hadn't even managed a step forward before her brother materialized beside her, one hand pushing Magoku's barrel downward. 

“I would ad-advise against that, _ma petite soeur_ ,” he said patronizingly, his voice dripping with faux sweetness. “I believe I have rather managed to infuriate _ma puce_.” He pulled his hand up, flexing his fingers idly before giving Escape a sidelong glance. “We would hate to ruin what advantage-age-age we have with a hasty action, _non_?” 

Escape pouted, lowering her weapons but not quite putting them away. “I'm bored,” she protested, gesturing grandly to the still-growing server farm on the far end of the room. “There's nothing here for me to do. All I want is a little fun.” 

“Do not worry,” Enter replied almost immediately, his eyes glinting in a stray beam of red light. “There will be plen-plenty to do, soon enough.” He smiled and looked fondly towards the wall of computer equipment. “ _Je vous jure._ ” 


	6. Chapter 6

Growth.

It was the only thing Escape could think of to describe her little seed farm, already grown as big as to fill half the room she had chosen. What was once a dull red glow in the room had become swiftly blinking lights, all pulsing with the life that was nothing other than her Papa. Messiah was to be reborn, and despite her constant urge to go and engage their enemy head-on, she was more than excited at the prospect of his rebirth.

The numbers she had taken so much interest in watching had changed recently, although their efforts still brought in Enetron at an impressive clip. Between her and Enter doing regular jumps to steal bits of Enetron here and there, coupled with the occasional collection-focused Metaroid – despite their typically swift elimination – their Enetron supply had grown to the point that Escape had been waiting for since she first rebooted Enter's backup system.

There was enough Enetron to restore Messiah's consciousness, plus a little extra. Once her Papa returned, Escape told herself, things could only improve.

She leaned against the wall, rolling her shoulders back as she eyed her brother's case. It shone a dull red from the surrounding lights, and she chewed on her lower lip as she thought of everything that had happened since their initial defeat in hyperspace. Escape had hoped against hope that her brother's backup had been pristine, in spite of the physical damage it had taken, and rebooted him. At first she was convinced that everything was fine, aside from a little audio glitch, but as events had progressed, she realized she must have been wrong.

Enter was stronger than before, although very little of that was physical strength. Most of it came from the willful abandonment of his usual drawn-out plans, substituting all-out force for the wit and cleverness she had initially been banking on. While it had certainly appeared to have panned out well, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was overlooking something major, something ridiculously important.

It bothered her. And when Escape was bothered, Goku and Magoku itched for action.

But her brother had a point. There was nothing to be gained from her charging into battle with their enraged enemy, not when so much was currently on the line. Instead she paced and fidgeted, waiting for the moment to come where she could greet her Papa properly back into her world.

“Enough,” she muttered to herself, looking over to the server rack. “I'll just do it myself.”

She knelt down at one end of the rack, starting the unit calibrations one at a time. Escape didn't know much when it came to the technical side of things, but she knew enough to get into trouble.

Bringing her Papa back to life was exactly the sort of trouble she wanted.

-

Kuroki Takeshi wasn't stupid.

He was a lot of other things, though: jaded, experienced, hardened, spurned, cynical, and practical almost to a fault. But he most certainly was not stupid, and he knew better than to think that the Vaglass were satisfied with having eliminated Jin Masato.

No, Commander Kuroki wasn't stupid. He knew that he had no time to mourn his lost friend and comrade, no time to attend to his estate or last wishes. The rest of the EMC were settling into their own methods of handling loss, but he put his aside for more important things.

Like revenge.

The mood of the entire organization had shifted drastically upon Jin's defeat. Hiromu and Ryuuji had thrown themselves headfirst into training, believing that strength was their best resource in defeating the Vaglass for good. Youko had focused on taking J under her wing, working together with him to build a new sort of teamwork that would benefit their operation. Nakamura was just as innocent as always, but even Morishita had found a new sense of direction in his work. All of them together were the best team he could have asked for.

Minus one.

So Kuroki Takeshi planned. He disappeared for hours at a time, holing himself up in a quiet office and working out the best plans of attack and defense, charting out which strategies would best advance their cause of eliminating the Vaglass forever. He knew he was becoming cold and distant. He knew he was no longer thinking of his comrades as coworkers, but as pawns to be used and discarded on the field of battle. But none of that mattered to him any longer.

He would avenge Jin Masato, even if it meant his own death.

-

“ _Ma petite soeur,_ ” came a too-familiar voice from the doorway, and Escape looked away from the monitor to watch her brother waltz gracefully into the room. “It seems I might have over es-estimated you after all.”

“I am bringing Papa back,” Escape retorted, her face set with determination. “It's what we are meant to do. What we were created to do!” She stood, marching up to Enter and staring him down, trying not to notice the dark shadows flickering across his eyes. “I will not wait any longer to see my Papa live again.”

“But he is alive,” Enter said fluidly, a patronizing smile spreading slowly across his face. “If he were not alive, how could we use the Meta-ta-tavirus? The answer, _ma chère,_ is that we cannot. Therefore, your Papa is still alive.”

“That's not enough!” Escape nearly hissed in Enter's face, causing her brother to actually retreat an inch or two. Her fingers flexed in midair, desperately wanting to pull out Goku and Magoku and lay into Enter with as much anger as she could manage. But their location was far from ideal for such a fight, and she wasn't willing to walk away from the calibration process midway through. So she turned, spinning on one heel to stalk back to the monitor and work towards her ultimate goal. “We need him back to the way he was, before you lost your fight with Red Buster,” she tossed the reference at Enter casually, reminding him directly of his failure to protect Messiah. “I don't need you for that. I can do it myself.”

Escape faced the monitor, watching the numbers carefully as she typed. Even the screen itself was far too bright to reflect her brother's image as he walked up behind her, lip curled into a derisive sneer. “I suppose you can,” he said icily, hand almost trembling as he pulled it away from his body. A quick shake of his wrist and his blade slid down deftly, fitting against his palm as he raised his arm. “It is some-something I shan't soon forget.”

Too late she realized her mistake, fingers still poised on the keyboard as it finally occurred to her to reach for her weapons. The tips still brushed against the plastic as Enter's blade slid home, aimed precisely between the steel beams of the rack and striking at the core of her processing unit. It sputtered and died, the fan slowly winding down as all processes in her system ground to a silent halt.

“Enter...” she whispered, her projection program still functioning enough to display her falling to the floor. Her eyes, no longer focused, stared underneath the server rack as her body began to dissolve into green digitized mist. “Papa...won't...”

“Your Papa won't even know what-what's happened, _ma petite soeur_ ,” Enter said with a bitter smile, twisting his wrist to shatter Escape's motherboard completely. “So rest at last, and let your _frère_ han-handle it from here.”

-

“Commander!” Morishita's voice rang out through the EMC, a half-second before the alarm began to blare from all corners. “Unusual Enetron reading in sector 412!”

Kuroki, in his seat for the first time in nearly five hours, grimaced down at the Go-Busters as they lined up in front of him. “Go-Busters,” he said, his voice gravelly from lack of proper rest. “Your mission is to halt the Enetron loss and eliminate any threat present. Move out!”

“Understood!” Three Busters saluted diligently, the fourth remaining dutifully silent. They wasted no time in grabbing their harnesses on their way to the tubes, preparing themselves for battle the moment they rolled out of the poster into the indicated shopping district.

“Where are they?” Hiromu barked, coming across more as an indirect order than an actual question. “Is it Enter or Escape? Is there a Metaroid?”

Nakamura's voice came across their bracer, concerned as always. “There's no sign of any Megazord transport.”

“It looks like they're just draining Enetron again,” Morishita continued in agreement. “But it's going way faster than usual. They're not playing around this time.”

Ryuuji frowned. “Let's suit up now,” he said, looking over to Hiromu, who nodded. All three went through their transformation, and once their visors were in place broke out into a run to canvas the area as quickly as possible.

“There,” J said solidly, after not even thirty seconds of running by Youko's side. He pointed to a flat, open wall, where a small tank was hooked directly into an Enetron outlet. “That is the source.”

“Good eyes!” Youko called out, then nearly yelped as two projectiles struck the ground on either side of her. She dodged reflexively, only noticing after she was upright again that J had placed himself between her and the direction the attack had come from. “What was that?”

Enter materialized in front of her, giving her a wide-eyed manic grin as he summoned his cables to constrict her arms firmly to her waist. “That was me, _madamoiselle_ ,” he said simply, raising her up into the air. “You are fairly ad-adept at letting down your guard.”

Gunfire landed at his feet suddenly and he vanished, his cables tossing Youko several feet as he disappeared and reappeared a dozen yards away. “Ah, so the rest of you are here as-as-as well,” he said, his arms gesturing to acknowledge the other two Busters as they arrived on the scene. “Good. Now perhaps we can talk.”

“We don't care what you have to say, Enter!” Hiromu yelled, his gun blazing as he barely bothered to take aim.

Ryuuji darted forward, curving to the left to give Hiromu as much space as possible as he charged the enemy directly. “I'd say the time for talking is well past over!” He lowered his shoulder, aiming to knock Enter down, or at least several feet back.

Enter, however, simply dematerialized yet again, reappearing up on the wall above where his Enetron tank was still filling. “ _Non non non, ma puce_ ,” he warned coldly, glaring down at the four gathered Busters. “There is always time for talk. Now, even more-moreso.”

“Don't joke around!” Hiromu yelled, raising his gun for yet another shot when Youko tugged sharply on his elbow. He whirled on her then, almost pointing the gun at her before angrily staring her down. “What are you doing?”

“He doesn't want to fight, Hiromu,” she said worriedly, her eyes looking back up at Enter perched on the wall. “He can dodge indefinitely if he wants to. We can at least listen to what he wants to say before exhausting ourselves trying.”

Ryuuji came up behind her, nearly growling in his disagreement. “He's just stalling,” he said, his voice low and already close to overmodulation. “Don't give him any more time.”

“Ah, but I am here to give you exactly that, _monsieur_ ,” Enter interrupted, his voice gaining a layer of cheer it had been missing for the past several weeks. “I am here to-to give you time. Count this as a warning, if-if you will.”

Hiromu sneered through his helmet. “A warning for what?”

Enter grinned, wide and predatory as his eyes glinted in the sunlight. “For your deaths. You and I, _ma puce_ , we-we are much the same, are we not?” He watched happily as Red Buster nearly growled, taking another step towards his wall. “We both exist for one purpose: revenge. And I plan to a-achieve it, at any cost.”

“I am nothing like you!” Hiromu screamed up the wall. “None of us are!”

“Do you really be-believe that?” He cocked his head, the grin twisting to nearly stay even as he did so. “Think long and hard on this, _ma puce_. You-you will see the truth if you try.” He raised his arm, dematerializing from the ground up, only to reappear by his Enetron tank on the ground. “That is your warning,” he continued, the cheer gone from his voice once more. “You-you'd do best to heed it.”

All three primary busters raised their guns in unison, no command needed, and opened fire on both Enter and the tank. But both disappeared in a haze of data before the first shot arrived, leaving the Go-Busters alone with a lost Buddyroid and, ultimately, their thoughts.


	7. Chapter 7

Everything was chaos.

The screaming had long since ceased, replaced with the crackling of damaged electrical systems sparking in and out of life. Lights flickered as the Go-Busters raced back into the EMC, dodging debris and fleeing engineers as they worked their way to the main control center.

Youko felt tears stinging her eyes as she heard a scream from up ahead, and she forced her legs to move faster in response. They'd already run so far, since defeating the four Metaroids that had surrounded the EMC building, but she wasn't anywhere near giving up.

She pulled the last piece of candy from her pouch, unwrapping it and shoving it into her mouth before replacing her helmet. Her eyes looked to the squared backs of Hiromu and Ryuuji on either side of her, and she set her jaw in determination. She wouldn't _ever_ give up.

“Commander, no!”

The cry echoed around the corner as the three Go-Busters skidded into the control room, doing their best to ignore its horrendous condition. There was a small electrical fire in one corner, the klaxons wailing nonstop, and most of the furniture was either upended or in pieces.

But in the middle of the room stood the figure of Enter, his cables wrapped tightly around a human body.

“Morishita!” Youko screamed as she recognized Enter's captive, but it was too late. Enter flung the young man's body against the wall, where it flopped bonelessly to the floor. Up on the dais, Kuroki was glaring at Enter in equal parts horror and anger, his face ashen and pale from what he'd just witnessed. Behind him, shaking and in tears, was Nakamura, her hands clinging desperately to Kuroki's arm.

“You...” Kuroki growled, climbing to his feet and grabbing his chair to brandish as a weapon. “...you murderer! You will pay!” He swung the chair at Enter, who grinned maniacally as he easily sidestepped the attack. “We will never give in to you! Never!”

“Ah, but I do not wish your surr-surrender,” Enter nearly purred, twisting out of the way of the chair as it was thrown towards him. It sailed towards the wall, bouncing off harmlessly as Enter caught hold of Kuroki's wrist and dragged it forcefully behind his back. “I simply wish to kill you all. Quite the _difference_ , you understand?” He twisted his arm sharply, grinning as he heard bone crack, then shoved Kuroki forward towards the desk. “Just die.”

His cables lashed upwards in preparation for a final blow, but both Hiromu and Ryuuji tackled him from either side just a second before they fell. Enter noticed their approach and redirected them at the last moment, and both Red and Blue Busters fell prey to the stinging cables as they dragged Enter back and away from their commander.

“Nakamura!” Hiromu yelled in between blows from the cables. “Get him out of here!”

Her eyes filled with tears, she nodded dutifully and dragged Kuroki's arm over her shoulder. The two of them limped towards the exit, Enter already sufficiently too distracted to think of giving chase.

“ _Ma puce_ ,” Enter nearly growled, his eyes settling on Hiromu as his cables focused on flinging Ryuuji away. “Did I not tell you your fin-final day was arriving soon? And now here we are.”

“We're not finished yet,” Hiromu growled back, taking advantage of Enter's attack on Ryuuji to dart behind his opponent. His arm wrapped around Enter's neck, realizing a second too late that the tactic would do little against Enter's avatar.

Sure enough, Enter dematerialized almost immediately, warping himself to the other side of the room. He took a step forward onto the fallen Blue Buster, pushing down on Ryuuji's shoulder as his cables shot out once more. “Of-of course you aren't,” he purred, wrapping the cables around each of Ryuuji's limbs. When a volley of shots hit the wall on either side of him, he yanked Ryuuji upward, putting him directly in the line of Youko's fire. “It would be too easy, were you to die now. You must keep fight-fighting, until the end, _n'est-ce pas_?”

Youko cried out, lowering her weapon as she recalculated how best to aim at her target without hitting her teammate. Ryuuji was obviously struggling at Enter's cables, unable to free himself but unwilling to give up. She could see the steam starting to rise up from his suit and she gritted her teeth. “Ryuuji, don't!” she cried out, knowing it was likely useless. “You'll overheat!”

“I have to do _something_!” he yelled back, pulling harder at his bonds. He saw a flash of red as Hiromu turned on his speed, but then he was facing his friend head-on as Enter whipped him over to block. Hiromu nearly tumbled into him, and he felt his internal temperature rise a fraction more.

“ _Oui_ , do some-something,” Enter agreed, his face a display of pure giddiness as he swung Ryuuji around to block Youko's incoming shots. “Keep doing things, _j'insiste_.”

The cloud of steam nearly became a fog as Ryuuji's temper and temperature alike reached critical levels. He let off a loud roar, stretching outwards as he overheated. Already prepared for the eventuality, Enter let his cables quickly unwind from Blue Buster's limbs before the latter had the opportunity to use his strength to free himself. The enraged Ryuuji turned on Enter, voice crackling with digitization as he pointed in the avatar's direction. “You. Dead.”

Enter smiled and bowed. “Do-do your worst, _monsieur_.”

Again Ryuuji roared, and charged straight at Enter's bowing figure, which disappeared a moment before he arrived. Growling with rage, he pried the nearest desk from the floor and hefted it upwards as turned around to survey the room. Youko stood at a communications console, saying something into the microphone there. Seeing Enter's grinning face behind Youko, he flung the desk in that direction and charged forward once more.

“Ryuuji, no!” Hiromu cried out, giving Youko just enough warning to dart out of the way of the flying piece of furniture. It shattered against the wall as Enter dissipated once more, and Hiromu quickly realized Enter's plan.

“Youko!” he cried out, dodging a pair of chairs as Enter lured Ryuuji towards him. “He's using him against us – until he takes us out or overheats completely.” He darted out of the way as Ryuuji's fist slammed into the wall that, until a moment before, had been directly behind his head. The avatar had teleported himself yet again, taunting Blue Buster from a perch above the kneeling Yellow. “We have to wear him out – keep dodging!”

“Right!” Youko followed suit, rolling out of the way as another desk shattered against the ceiling and the debris rained down upon the floor. She saw Enter appear just a few steps away from Hiromu, and she leveled her blaster in his direction. “Hiromu, behind you!”

Hiromu darted to the side, just in time to avoid Ryuuji's form as he barreled by. He and Youko both readied themselves for him to change direction once more, but the cloud of steam grew even larger and Ryuuji suddenly stopped moving. For a moment he teetered in mid-charge, then toppled over as his body shut down in order to regulate itself.

Both Youko and Hiromu breathed sighs of relief, but they were drowned out by peals of Enter's laughter echoing around the room. “One down,” he announced, almost sing-song. “ _Deux personnes_ left to go...”

Hiromu grimaced, realizing that they were behaving exactly the way Enter had wanted them to. “Youko,” he called out, half-turning to keep an eye on each of them. “We need to-”

His words dropped off as he watched Youko crumple to the floor, one hand clutching at her stomach, the growls almost audible from where he stood. “Dammit, of course,” he swore to himself. “This is just what he planned.”

“ _Mais oui_ ,” came Enter's voice, right by his ear, and Hiromu wasn't fast enough to dodge out of the way before Enter's cables wrapped themselves firmly around his wrists. “I am not a fool, _ma puce_ , no mat-matter how many times I appeared to lose to you. I survive-vive. I learn. _Vous connards_ may best me on occasion, but you cannot win over-ver-verall. I will make sure of that.”

Hiromu growled, turning on his speed in an attempt to break free of the cables' grasp. But they bent and flowed with his movements, staying strong and holding him just a few feet from Enter's face. “This isn't the end,” he hissed, glad at least that his helmet had stayed intact. “You will fall, Enter. As long as the EMC exists-”

“What makes you think, _ma puce_ , that it will exist after you have been des-destroyed?” Enter blinked up at him, the sneer just a ghost on his lips. Hiromu's words had him seeming almost confused. “I will kill you. _Oui,_ that part will hap-happen. And then, I will kill your _camarades._ This will destroy the EMC, _n'est-ce pas_?”

An inhuman roar ripped its way from Hiromu's throat, and he overpowered the cables enough to swing a punch at Enter's curious face. It missed, by several inches, but the action inspired him nonetheless. “You will die, Enter! I swear it!”

The smirk worked its way back onto Enter's face, the curiosity having faded away completely. “Do not make promises you cannot-not keep, _ma puce_ ,” he chided Hiromu with glee. “Now is finally the time that I-”

He froze. His cables hung in midair, stuck in place but no longer moving.

Hiromu didn't wait for an explanation. Roaring once more, he ripped his arms free and surged forward, grabbing Enter by the shoulder and slamming his fist into the suddenly-blank face.

“I have found the machine,” J's voice crackled from the communications station Youko had been using just a few minutes before. “It is suspended. I do not think it will be enough.”

Youko looked up from the floor, too weak to move, but gathering the energy to shout anyway. “Destroy it!” she yelled up towards the microphone, hoping her words were clear enough. “Whatever you have to do, destroy it!”

There was a long pause, punctuated by the sound of Hiromu's fists pounding into Enter's unmoving avatar. “Understood,” he finally responded. Then, after another painful moment: “He would have done the same.”

Youko felt her stomach twist up at those words, something beyond the hunger. But before she could question them, she heard the grinding of metal over the speaker, followed by a slow hissing sound. “No...” she whispered to herself, but she knew it was too late. “No, don't!”

The explosion echoed, overmodulated, through the speaker and into the room. It lasted just a few seconds before the microphone on J's end was destroyed and the radio went to static.

For a brief moment, Enter unfroze. Lying beneath Hiromu, hair mussed and goggles cracked from the onslaught, he grinned. Then, without another word, he vanished completely.

The klaxons wailed, the fire burned itself out, and the dust settled.

It was the worst sort of peace.


	8. Epilogue

The hallway outside of Hiromu's room was, quite possibly, the busiest it had ever been.

It began with Nick. He'd been the first one to be shut out of the room, not even a day after the EMC was declared fit for habitation again. Still, he refused to leave his self-imposed guard post by the door, making sure that if Hiromu were to need him, he'd be as close as possible.

Youko had been next. It took several days for her to reach out, still upset from realizing that she had unwittingly given J the command to self-destruct. Even though a probe sent into hyperspace had confirmed it – that Enter's building and all the systems inside had been completely destroyed – she couldn't help but feel like it had been the wrong choice.

It was Ryuuji who had helped her come to terms with the situation, in the end. At best, he felt crushed with guilt that he'd been the first one to be incapacitated during the fight. It only got worse when he realized he'd been used as a weapon against his own teammates. But Youko had forgiven him, so loudly and forcefully that he'd had little choice but to accept it and move forward.

His steps forward had been enough to help her come to terms with J's death. And when the time was right, they'd insisted together that J get a soldier's funeral service, alongside Morishita. It was the least they could do, to honor his sacrifice.

Nakamura had been next, venturing forth to knock on Hiromu's door when it became apparent he was answering to no one else. He ignored even her pleas, and the days of his self-imposed isolation stretched into a week.

On the eight day, Commander Kuroki brought himself to knock on Hiromu's door.

His arm was in a cast, propped in a sling at his side. He knocked on the door once, then twice, then waited. When no reply came, he punched a code into the speaker at the side and spoke. 

"Sakurada Hiromu,” he said, his voice low and even. “You will open this door right now, or I _will_ come in after you.”

There was a moment, and then the door opened.

Hiromu's hair was a mess, tangled and pointing in all directions. He wore only a t-shirt and shorts, leaning heavily against the doorframe for support.

“Hiromu,” Kuroki said, standing at attention.

“Sir,” he replied, not quite mirroring the salute.

“You're to report to your station at oh-eight-hundred. Is that understood?”

Hiromu blinked, staring up at Kuroki for a long moment. Then his back went ramrod-straight and he locked himself into a salute. “Yes, sir.”

Kuroki smiled and returned the salute, then walked down the hall, hearing the faint clanking as Nick was allowed back inside the room.

Maybe now they could really move on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After seven months left untouched, these last two chapters are posted without being beta'd. I'm not even entirely concerned about it anymore - I just wanted this finished.
> 
> Thanks for reading. :)


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